HUMANITARIANASSISTANCEINTHEPACIFICAnEvaluationofAustralia’sResponsetoCyclonePam

FEBRUARY2017

@DFATDFAT.GOV.AU/ODE THEOFFICEOFDEVELOPMENTEFFECTIVENESS 1

CommunitiesaffectedbyCyclonePamwereveryappreciativeofAustralianhumanitarianemergencyreliefsupplies.ThephotoshowsMarieNowai collecting a hygiene kit from a distribution point at Port Narvin School, Erromango Island, organised by members of the localCommunityDisasterCommittee(wearingorangejackets)withsupportfromCARE.Hygienekits includesoap,abucket,washingpowder,toothbrushesandtoothpaste.Photo:PallenPhilip,WorldVision.

WhenCyclonePamhitVanuatuinMarch2015,itwasthemostpowerfulcycloneeverrecordedinthesouthernPacificregion.OverhalfofVanuatu’spopulation,anestimated188,000people,wereaffected.Manyhomes,livelihoodsandessentialservicesweredamagedordestroyed(Figure1).

Asthescaleofdestructionexceededtheresponsecapacityofnationalsystems,theVanuatuGovernmentrequestedinternationalassistance.ManygovernmentsandhumanitarianorganisationsrespondedandaglobalappealraisedA$58million.

TheVanuatuGovernmentactivatedcomprehensivedisasterplans,andmadeitclearthatitintendedtoleadandcontrolthehumanitarianresponse.Thiswaschallenginggiventhesizeoftheinternationalresponseandbecausemanyresponders,workinginthewaystheyareaccustomedto,prioritisedspeedoveraligningwithandsupportinglocalsystems.

AustraliarespondedrapidlytospecificrequestsforassistancefromtheVanuatuGovernmentallocatingoverA$15milliontoareliefandrecoveryoperation(Figure2).TheAustralianDefenceForcealsomadeamajorcontributionprovidingpersonnelandassetsat

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ascaleandwithafunctionalcapacitythatwouldnothavebeenavailableotherwise(estimatedtohavecostA$17million).

TheOfficeofDevelopmentEffectiveness(ODE)evaluatedAustralia’sresponsetoCyclonePamtoidentifywhatshouldbedonetoimprovetheeffectivenessoffuturehumanitarianresponsesinthePacific.Theevaluationfocussedonthemost

severelyaffectedislands–Tanna,ErromangoandEfate.

Overall,theevaluationfoundthatAustralia’sresponsealignedwithcommitmentsinthedepartment’sHumanitarianActionPlanandwaseffectiveinsupportingtheVanuatuGovernmenttodelivermuchneededassistancetocommunities.

FIGURE1:THEPATHANDIMPACTOFCYCLONEPAM

FIGURE2:SOMEOFTHEACHIEVEMENTSOFAUSTRALIANASSISTANCE

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SummaryofEvaluationFindings

¨ Australia’srapid,largeresponsewasjustified.

¨ TheAustralianwhole-of-governmentresponsewascoordinatedandcoherent.

¨ Strategicuseofestablishedpartnershipsfacilitatedthefastandefficientdeliveryofmuchneededassistance.

¨ Aftertheinitialrapidresponse,assistancecouldhavesloweddowntoalignwiththespeedoflocalsystems.

¨ AclearpriorityforDFATwassupportinglocalownership.Providingtechnicalassistancetosupportgovernmentcapacitywascrucialintheresponsephase.Directfundingtothehealthandeducationministriesenabledthemtoleadrecoveryprocesses.

¨ Localprivatesectorandcivilsocietyexpertiseandcapacitycouldhavebeenmorefullyutilised.

¨ Distributionofreliefitemsfocussedonthemostseverelyaffectedprovincesandkeyneedsforshelterandfood.

¨ ThedistributionofreliefitemswasuniformasrequestedbytheVanuatuGovernmentandcommunities.

¨ Disadvantagedcommunitiesandindividualsthatweremorevulnerablewerenotgivenadditionalassistance.

¨ Assistancecouldhavebettersupportedabroaderrangeofneedsincludinglivelihoodrecovery.

¨ Cashtransferscouldnotbeusedassuitablemechanismshadnotbeenestablishedinadvanceofthecrisis.

¨ ThecapacitytobuildonAustralia’sdevelopmentprogramswaslimitedbythelackofsuitablefundingmechanisms.

¨ ThescaleoftheresponseandcomplexityofbalancingcompetingprioritiesstretchedthecapacityoftheAustralianHighCommissioninPortVila.

¨ LessonslearnedwereusedtoimprovetheresponsetoCycloneWinstoninFiji.

Localpeoplehavetheknowledgetodelivereffectivesolutionstolocalproblems.Afterthecyclone,foodwasinshortsupplyontheeastern side of Tanna, but in the fertile Middle Bush area,perishablefoodwasabundant.JohnBIll(pictured),drawingonalongtraditionofbarterbetweentheseareas,borrowedatruckfrom the local government organised a food exchange. Fallencoconuts from the eastwere exchanged for cabbage, taro andcassavafomPhoto:KarenOvington,DFAT.

RECOMMENDATIONSTheevaluationmadefiverecommendationstoimprovetheeffectivenessoffuturehumanitarianresponsestorapidonsetcrisesinthesouthPacificregion.

Recommendation1.DFATshouldcontinuetoprogressworktosupportnationallyledresponsesandlocalisationby:

• definingwhatismeantbylocalisationandunifyingimplementingpartnersaroundacommonunderstandingoflocalisation;

• inadvanceofacrisis,identifyinglocal,nationalandregionalpartners,includingfromtheprivatesectorandcivilsociety,whocouldcontributeeffectivelytoahumanitarianresponse,andmechanismsthatcouldbeusedtosupportthemintheeventofacrisis;and

• exploringoptionsforPacificcrisisresponseteams.

SummaryofEvaluationFindings

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Recommendation2.DFATshouldseektoimprovethetargetingofassistancetothosemostinneedandtobettermatchneedsby:

• workingwithpartnergovernmentsaheadofandduringacrisistoidentifyhowassistancecanbetargetedtothosemostinneed;

• workingwithallimplementingpartnersandAustralianagenciestoincrease,wherepossible,alignmentofassistancewithstrategicpriorities,notablygenderequalityandwomen’sempowerment,disabilityinclusivenessandprotection;

• exploringmechanismsthroughwhichsmallandmedium-sizebusinessescanbesupportedtorecoveraftercrises;and

• establishingmechanismsandrelationshipssothatcashtransferprogrammingcangraduallybecomeastandardfeatureofhumanitarianresponsesinthePacific.

Recommendation3.DFATshouldworktofurtherbridgethehumanitarian–developmentdivideby:

• identifyingpriortoaresponsethestrengthsandrelationshipswithinthebilateralprogramthatcanbeleveragedinahumanitarianresponseandincorporatingsurgefundingcapacityintobilateralcontracts.

Recommendation4.DFATshouldstrengthenitscommunicationandaccountabilityby:

• developingashortwrittenstatementoractionplanthatoutlinestheoverallpurpose,strategicpriorities,suiteofpartnersandapproachofAustralia’sassistance,andmakingtheplanavailabletopartnersattheoutsetofaresponse;and

• encouragingandsupportingimplementingpartnerstoimproveaccountabilitytonationalgovernmentsbyprovidingtimely,concisereports.

Recommendation5.DFATshouldensureitsinternalcapacitytodeliverhumanitarianactionisappropriateby:

• ensuringstaffatpostshavebeenprovidedwithappropriatetrainingabouthumanitarianprinciples,policyandoperations;and

• exploringmechanismsforlengtheningandimprovingthephasingofshort-termhumanitariandeployments.

DFATmanagementhasagreedwithalloftherecommendations.Thefullevaluationreport,includingthemanagementresponse,isavailableatdfat.gov.au/ode.

OfficeofDevelopmentEffectiveness

DFAT’sOfficeofDevelopmentEffectiveness(ODE)monitorstheperformanceoftheAustralianaidprogram,evaluatesitsimpactandcontributestointernationalevidenceanddebateaboutaidanddevelopmenteffectiveness.

Stallholders from the Local Mamas Business Group. Photo:LindaKenni,PortVila.

TheLocalMamas’BusinessGroupwasestablished15yearsago.The87membershadstallsatamarketplaceinPortVilathatwasdestroyedbyCyclonePam.TheMamaswereallocatedspaceinanewmarkettoestablishtheirstalls.Whilethiswasverywelcome,manyofthemstruggledtofindthefundsneededtobuildtheirnewstalls,since,atthetime,theywerealsotryingtorepairtheirhomes.

Ayearafterthecyclone,thegroupwasstillstrugglingtosurvive.Touristshadstartedtoreturn,butsaleswerestillsmall.OneMamatoldhowpreviouslyshecouldaffordthebusfaretothemarketbutnowhadtowalkforabout90minutestoreachthemarket.AsmostoftheMamasarethemainbreadwinnersfortheirfamilies,theyestimatethatthelivelihoodsofabout500peoplehavebeencompromisedbytheimpactofthecycloneontheirbusinesses.

Themanagementresponsetotheevaluationhasidentifiedopportunitiesandactionstohastentherecoveryoflocalenterprisesandmarketsinfuturecrises.Theseinclude,increasingaccesstoinsuranceandprovidingcashtransferstovulnerablegroupstoinjectcashflowintolocalmarkets.